Crown Prince’s Gamble

Darius could not understand the thoughts of the person he served and could not go against their wishes so he had no choice but to question his reasoning behind such a decision.

He needed to know what the Crown Prince was thinking and why he would choose to make a decision when many lives could be in danger.

The Crown Prince finally seemed to show some more activity as he turned to coldly stare at Darius. "Everyone else out."

Upon heading his order, everyone quickly left allowing the two to be alone to talk.

Only after the two of them were left alone, he opened his mouth again. "How do you see the capital? How about the nobility?"

Darius responded. "Each family has its own way to contribute despite our differences and the capital is the place where the strength of the Northern Lands is gathered to its fullest."

The Crown Prince nodded. "The second part.. I would say that is most correct. The first part.. not so much. To me, the Northern Lands has its power gathered around the Capital as its central point but what good is that?

The families of each generation grow weaker the more time that passes and are replaced by new families that are aiming to cut others down in order to rise. All achievements made these days are just childish games and boasting of each of their latest feats.

If the nobility is not causing problem by creating conflicts within the Capital then they are simply too weak and incapable to survive even if they are loyal to the Royal Family. That is our situation now, the nobility is just one cause of the many problems that continue to advance our downfall."

Even as he explained such a tragic situation, he did not display any sorrow as if he either did not care about the end outcome or he had given up hope long ago. "The nobility of today is one of the biggest problems that are rotting the foundation.

Even if there are dangers to the lives of those out there, it will be of their own making and they will have to wait longer for aid. Those causing problems will be punished allowing for some infections to be removed and hopefully some can come out of this experience stronger than before."

His main issue was that there was either nobles that had a shaky foundation due to them living off their ancestors achievement or there were others that were causing further damage to the unity and power of the capital due to their own interests.

His thought process had shown that he saw the danger towards so many lives of nobles from the Capital but it was also an opportunity to stamp out the causes of those troubles and to help others grow through their tough experience even if there would be many deaths.

So many people died outside the walls of the Capital every year while most inside lived more comfortably and were growing much softer with each generation so he felt that they needed to have a wakeup call.

Darius understood his reasoning but couldn't help but ask. "But if we head out now, there may still be casualties when we arrive. If we delay until the next time then I am afraid the situation will be difficult to salvage."

The Crown Prince continued to stare off into the distance as he said. "Those that are able to hold on and survive will be worthy enough to be welcomed back to the Capital. The more dire the situation, the more grateful they will be when help does arrive."

Although he had hidden meanings behind his choices, it was always about maintaining control and balance over the Capital which he was to rule over one day.

He saw the Northern Lands weakening beyond repair so he had to take up such a path in order to see if he could help nurture something within that danger and chaos that could help the Northern Lands to grow stronger.

It was even more important that those people who would become the foundation for his plan would be loyal to him alone so there needed to be a reason for them to follow him.

If they were truly thrown into despair trying to survive in such dire circumstances, the more time that passed, the more desperate and grateful they would become towards those that stretched out a helping hand to them.

Anyone that was weak, unskilled or unlucky would be lost early while the strong or clever would be left standing long enough for the Crown Prince to gather them up for himself.

In his opinion, such people that survived such circumstances would not only become the foundation for him rising up as the Emperor but they could also aid him in keeping the Northern Lands collapsing in on itself.

Even if it did not collapse in on itself, there was always the impending threat of other forces within the Northern Lands or outside of it that could contribute to its complete downfall.

Once the Capital fell, it was just a matter of time before the Sects and other surrounding places that housed living people would begin to fall apart.

The only remaining force supporting the Capital in the present were only a few loyal families and the Ice Phoenix Sect which was in charge of raising him so he knew the situation all too well.

Even the Bombyx family which were involved in his calculations were just a small piece that could be used to buy a little more time.

Although the daughter of their family and some others could be in danger, it was not enough to make him change his decision.

If she died then he could shift the blame towards those involved and those affiliated with them.

If he did a good enough job in taking action against those involved then he thought the Bombyx family would be grateful for enacting justice for them.

The Bombyx family did have a daughter that had been made the successor but there was still a younger son and the youngest daughter who could replace her.

He did not realise that the Bombyx family was unlike most other noble families who valued the son over daughters and did not realise how important Ki was to them.

In his opinion, if Ki did die up in the mountains then the first born son would be able to inherit the Bombyx family as the family would have wanted it to happen.

It was very likely that Ki was using her position as the eldest child and the first born to suppress her younger brother in order to keep her position but once she was gone, the son would jump at the chance to tale the position he thought was rightfully his.

What he thought was actually very far from the truth since Leon was never suppressed by Ki in any way and he never had any interest towards the position of heir or taking over the family business meaning that there would only be Naara left who was much too young still.

If Ki did survive then he would just have to get Darius to smooth things over for him so that there was no negative feelings left over.

As time passed by, the time finally came for the third time of being informed about the situation on the mountain but nothing had happened.

The Crown Prince saw the nervous expression of Darius so he waved his hand. "Go in full force. Destroy any that are involved."

Darius looked very serious as he bowed. "Yes your highness!"

The next moment, he had already ran out and began addressing each of the people that had been gathered and waiting for his orders. "Move out!"